Trash bag for wet trash

ABSTRACT

A trash bag for containing wet trash has an outer ply of fluid imperious material defining an outer front wall and an outer rear wall of the bag, and an inner ply of fluid pervious material defining an inner front wall and an inner rear wall of the bag. The inner and outer plies form a compartment between them which contains a highly fluid absorbent material. The material is capable of capturing any fluids that enter the compartment from the interior of the bag thereby minimizing fluid leakage from the bag in the event that the outer ply of the bag is breeched.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a plastic trash bag. It relates especially to a trash bag for handling trash with a high moisture content and commonly referred to as wet trash.

Most commercial and residential trash receptacles are provided with a liner consisting of a plastic trash bag. Often, trash with a significant fluid content, i.e., wet trash, is thrown into these receptacles. This is particularly so in the case of receptacles located in public places such as parks, transportation terminals, malls and other areas located near retail food outlets. When that occurs, fluids collect at the bottoms of the standard trash bags or liners particularly as they are removed from their receptacles for disposal. Often, the welded seams of these bags are not able to withstand the weight of the contained fluids and consequently the fluids frequently leak out of the bags.

Also, in many metropolitan areas, trash bags are typically dragged across sidewalks to the curb for overnight collection. In some cases, the action of dragging the bags can puncture the bag allowing the bag contents to leak out creating a public health hazard as the exposed fluids and the punctured bag reposing at curbside can attract rodents, flies and other pests. In an attempt to overcome these problems, some receptacles have been fitted with heavy duty trash bags or liners having a greater wall thickness. While such bags are better able to withstand frictional forces due to dragging of the bag, they still leak when punctured by a sharp object. Also the weight of fluids in the bags can still cause leakage at the bag seams.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide an improved trash bag for containing wet trash.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bag of this type which is especially adapted to serve as a liner for commercial trash receptacles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a trash bag which suffers minimum leakage even when punctured by an external object.

A further object of the invention is to provide a trash bag for containing wet trash which does not tend to leak even if a bag seam should be compromised to some extent.

Other objects will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the following detailed description, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

Briefly, the bag comprises an outer layer or ply of fluid impervious sheet material and an inner ply or layer of fluid pervious sheet material. The inner ply or layer occupies at least a portion of the bottom of the bag and is seamed to the outer layer to form a compartment between the two plies or layers which contains a layer of highly absorbent material. When wet trash is placed in the bag, the fluid content of that trash will penetrate the pervious inner ply of the bag and will be absorbed by the absorbent layer. Therefore, even if the outer wall of the bag should be breeched, since the fluids have been bound to the absorbent layer, there should be no leakage from the bag. The same is true if a bag seam is compromised due to the weight of fluids collected at the bottom of the bag. If desired, other substances such as a deodorizing agent, a neutralizing agent or the like may be included in the compartment to complement the fluid absorbing capacity of the bag.

Since it does not tend to leak, the present bag is especially suitable as a liner for receptacles in kitchens, HAZMAT facilities, hospitals, restaurants, airports, schools, and other locations where wet trash is discarded on a regular basis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view with parts broken away showing a trash bag or liner incorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, on a larger scale, taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the components for making a second bag embodiment according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the subject bag comprises an outer ply or layer 12 of a flexibe fluid impervious sheet material. Layer 12 includes a front wall 12 a and a rear wall 12 b which are formed by folding the sheet material at a fold line 12 c at the bottom of the bag. The ply or layer 12 is preferably made of a plastic sheet material such as polyethylene, polypropylene or the like. Depending upon the desired bag strength, the ply 12 may have a thickness of 0.5 to 1.5 mils for example.

The bag also includes an inner ply or layer 16 of a flexible sheet material. Like ply 12, ply 16 is folded to form front and rear walls 16 a and 16 b and the upper edges of those walls are secured to walls 12 a and 12 b by transverse bonded or welded seams 18 a and 18 b to define a compartment 22 between the two plies 12 and 16, respectively. While the inner ply walls 16 a and 16 b are shown as extending about a third of the way up from the bottom of the bag, it should be understood that those walls could extend higher or even all the way to the top of the bag in which case the seams 18 a and 18 b would be located at or near the top of the bag.

In accordance with the invention, ply 16 is impervious or impermeable to water and other fluids. In the illustrated bag, ply 16 is of the same impervious material as ply 12 but is provided with a multitude of small holes or perforations 24 which allow fluid to flow from the interior of the bag into the compartment 22. However, ply 12 could just as well be of a woven plastic sheet material which can be penetrated by water and other fluids.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the compartment 22 contains a fluid-absorbing material 26 in the form of a flexible layer capable of absorbing and retaining water and other fluids that may flow into compartment 22 through holes 24. Preferably, material 26 is of a super absorbent material capable of absorbing at least one gallon of a fluid such as water in each 12.5 square feet of material 26. A suitable super absorbent material available in sheet form is a cross-linked polyacrylate. Of course, compartment 22 could just as well be filled with a granular absorbent material such as sodium poly-2-propenoate marketed by Dow Chemical Co. under the designation DRYTECH. Other known absorbent or super absorbent polymers and copolymers may be envisioned for use in compartment 22.

Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, when making the illustrated bag, before the outer ply 12 is folded as aforesaid, the laminar absorbent material 26 and inner ply 16 are laid onto ply 12 and centered between the ends of that last ply. Then ply 16 is secured to ply 12 at seams 18 a and 18 b. Following that, the various plies or layers are folded at the fold line 12 c and the side edges of the outer ply walls 12 a and 12 b are secured together by seams 28 a and 28 b at the opposite sides of the bag. When formed thusly, the bag may serve as a stand alone trash bag or as a liner for use in residential and commercial trash receptacles.

For some applications, the bag may include one or more substances 30 in compartment 22 as shown in FIG. 2, which substances can act on or react to or counter the effects of the fluids absorbed by material 26. For example, substance 30 may be a deodorizing or scenting agent which can suppress or mask odors produced by the fluids. Substance 30 could also be a known agent for neutralizing the toxicity acidity, alkalinity, etc. of the fluids expected to be absorbed by material 26 in view of the bag's location, e.g., in a laboratory. Substance 30 could also be a catalyst or reactant which promotes the transformation of selected components of the fluids. Other substances that produce other desirable affects may be envisioned for use with material 26 in compartment 22.

The bag shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has seams at opposite sides of the bag. In other bag constructions, seams may be located at the bottom and one side only of the bag. FIG. 3 shows the layer layout for making such a bag. As seen there, the layer of absorbent material 26 and the inner ply 16 are placed on outer ply 12 with the lower edges of those layers in register. Then, those layers are folded along a vertical fold line F midway between the side edges of those layers. That folding forms the front and rear walls of the plies, the bottom and right side edges of which may be welded or bonded together to complete the bag.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that when wet trash is thrown into the present bag, the bag is able to separate fluids from the solid trash by allowing the fluids to flow into the compartment 22 and be captured by the absorbent material 26 therein. Any fluid volume that may be in excess of the absorbing capacity of material 26 will still be trapped by the bag's fluid impervious outer ply 12. On the other hand, if the outer ply 12 or the seams 28 a, 28 b should be compromised, any leakage from the bag will be minimal because most or all of the fluid is captured in absorbent material 26. As a result, the bag helps to prevent liquid contaminants from being introduced into an otherwise clean environment. This is particularly important in commercial food preparation areas, hospitals, nursing homes and the like where contamination could result in a serious health hazard.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above among those made apparent from the preceding description are efficiently attained. Also, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention described herein. 

1. A trash bag comprising an outer ply defining an outer front wall and an outer rear wall of the bag, said outer ply being fluid impervious; an inner ply defining an inner front wall and an inner rear wall, said inner ply being fluid pervious, said inner and outer plies defining a compartment between them, and a fluid absorbent material in said compartment for absorbing any fluids that enter the compartment from the interior of the bag.
 2. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner ply and absorbent material occupy at least the bottom third of the bag.
 3. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the outer ply comprises a plastic sheet.
 4. The bag defined in claim 3 wherein the plastic sheet is of polyethylene or poly-propylene.
 5. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner ply is a perforated plastic sheet.
 6. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner ply is of a fluid permeable woven plastic material.
 7. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the fluid absorbent material in a super absorbent in layer form.
 8. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the fluid material is a super absorbent in granular form.
 9. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner and outer plies have opposite side edges which are bonded together.
 10. The bag defined in claim 1 wherein the inner and outer plies have bottom edges which are bonded together.
 11. The bag defined in claim 1 and further including a substance in said compartment capable of interacting with or countering the effects of fluids absorbed by said material.
 12. The bag defined in claim 11 wherein the substance includes a deodorant. 